Jeffs moved to Texas for trial

Warren Jeffs, leader of a polygamist sect of fundamentalist Mormons, was arraigned in a Tom Green County District Court in San Angelo Wednesday morning. Jeffs is being held in the Reagan County Jail in Big Lake without bail.

Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, walks out of the Tom Green County Courthouse Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010, after his arraignment. Jeffs was transferred into Texas custody from Arizona late last night.

Warren Jeffs

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs was arraigned in a Tom Green County District Court in San Angelo Wednesday morning. Jeffs, who is being held in the Reagan County Jail in Big Lake without bail, will appear for a pretrial on Dec. 8 at 9 a.m.

During the 15-minute arraignment, Judge Barbara Walther of the 51st District Court read Jeffs his rights, announced and explained the three charges he faces and showed him copies of the indictments. Walther asked Jeffs, who does not yet have an attorney, whether he wanted her to appoint one to him.

“I need more time,” Jeffs said.

Angela Goodwin, a prosecutor with the Texas Attorney General’s office, was present at the arraignment.

Jeffs was extradited from Utah to Texas Tuesday night where he will stand trial, according to a Wednesday news release from the Texas Attorney General’s office. The release says Jeffs was taken into custody in Utah earlier Tuesday and is being held without bail. Jeffs is being charged with two counts of felony sexual assault as well as felony bigamy.

Jeffs is leader of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, a polygamist sect of fundamentalist Mormons that was founded in Southern Utah. In 2004, Jeffs opened the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado for his most ardent followers. The ranch was later raided in 2008 after a phone call reporting alleged abuse. About 400 children were taken into custody during the raid based on allegations they were being forced into underage marriages and sexually abused. To date, all of the seized children have been returned to their parents.

Court clerks in San Angelo said they added Jeffs’ arraignment to the docket early Wednesday morning and didn’t know anything about it until then. Peggy Williams, district clerk for Schleicher County, said that she found out late last night that Jeffs would be transferred to San Angelo.

Jerry Strickland, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, said they flew Jeffs into San Angelo from Utah at 9 p.m. Tuesday night and then drove him to Big Lake.

“Attorney General Abbott and his office his prosecutors have been handling the prosecution of cases related to the YFZ ranch,” Strickland said, as he walked into the courtroom Wednesday morning. “... Today 7 of 12 men have been convicted of sexually assaulting children. This case stems from that action.”

When asked about costs related to trying Jeffs in Texas, Strickland said he doesn’t have specific numbers, but that cost is not a factor.

“What I do know is, Attorney General Abbott is committed to protecting children in this state,” Strickland said. “You cant’ put a price tag on protecting children and because of that, this case will be handled with prosecutors (from) the AG’s (attorney general’s) office.”

According to The Associated Press, the Utah Supreme Court on Nov. 23 ruled it would not block the transfer of Jeffs to Texas. In court papers, defense attorneys had argued that sending Jeffs to Texas before a long-running criminal case in Utah is resolved denies him the right to a speedy trial.

Jeffs’ lawyers also objected to the conditions of an extradition agreement signed by Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and Texas Gov. Rick Perry that would deny Jeffs bail in Texas.

The Utah Attorney General’s Office contended that Jeffs had no legal grounds to argue against extradition.

Prosecutors also said the question of bail is moot because the laws that govern extradition agreements permit judges in the “demanding state” — in this case Texas — to set or deny bail.

Jeffs’ Texas charges stem from evidence gathered during a raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch near Eldorado in April 2008.

Jeffs had been held at the Utah State Prison after his arrest, prosecution and conviction on two charges of rape as an accomplice for his role in the 2001 marriage of an underage follower — then 14 — to her 19-year-old cousin.

In July, the Utah Supreme overturned the 2007 convictions. Prosecutors there have yet to decide whether they’ll retry Jeffs.